Table of Contents, Engage and Inspire Your Audience

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Westside Toastmasters is located in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California

The Fine Points: Gestures and Mannerisms

Your gestures and mannerisms can help you gain the support and confidence of your audience, or they can make people uncomfortable and even antagonistic. By far the best way to spot your gestures—both good and bad—is to videotape yourself practicing or giving your presentation. Replay your speech until you have broken it down into the series of gestures and mannerisms you rely on. Here's a list of the most common ones and how they are perceived:

Defensiveness

Arms crossed on chest	Crossing legs
Fistlike gestures	Pointing index finger
Karate chops	The fig leaf position

Reflective

Hand-to-face gestures	Head tilted
Stroking chin	Peering over glasses
Taking glasses off—cleaning	Putting earpiece of glasses in mouth
Pipe smoker gestures	Putting hand to bridge of nose

Suspicion

Arms crossed	Sideways glance
Touching or rubbing nose	Rubbing eyes

Openness and Cooperation

Open hands	Upper body in sprinter's position
Sitting on edge of chair	Hand-to-face gestures
Unbuttoned coat	Tilted head

Confidence

Hands behind back	Hands on lapels of coat
Steepled hands

Insecurity and Nervousness

Chewing pen or pencil	Rubbing thumb over thumb
Biting fingernails	Hands in pockets
Elbow bent, closed gestures	Clearing throat
"Whew" sound	Picking or pinching flesh
Fidgeting in chair	Hand covering mouth while speaking
Poor eye contact	Tugging at pants while seated
Jingling money in pockets	Tugging at ear
Perspiring, wringing hands	Playing with hair
Swaying	Playing with the pointer, or marker
Smacking lips	Sighing

Frustration

Short breaths	"Tsk" sound
Tightly clenched hands	Fistlike gestures
Pointing index finger	Rubbing hand through hair
Rubbing back of neck

To control your body language, all the points discussed in this chapter have to come together and work for you. How frustrating it must be for a speaker to deliver a speech with a grand, pressing purpose, only to have the delivery marred by nonverbal mannerisms that alienate the audience. Positive and powerful body language should support your verbal message and help you appear confident, caring, and in control in any situation—whether you are talking to a large audience, your boss, your colleagues, or your family.

Controlled body language that reinforces your strengths as a speaker carries your audience along with you to the point where it gets your message—loud, clear, and compelling. A good way to make that message even more compelling is to add a proper dose of humor, and Chapter 17 will show you how.